COCKNOSE CHOPPERS TRIUMPH

If you have a dream, sometimes it’s easier to achieve if you look right under your nose and take small steps from there. Father and son team Lyndon and Stacey Poultney from Port Talbot, Wales work together under the moniker of Cocknose Chopper. A name that increases in appeal once the intonation of a Welsh accent is added. Just tried that in your head, haven’t you?!

Lyndon AKA Cocknose used to be a panel beater and sprayer so should be well equipped for turning a sow’s ear into a purse. Currently he pressure tests engines for Ford which again stands him in good stead for fettling lacklustre mass-production bikes. Son, “Stasss”; designs, restores and makes stained glass, while passing knowledge on to others through teaching at the Architectural Glass Centre at Swansea Met Uni.

During evenings and weekends a 10’x8’ shed becomes HQ for Cocknose Choppers, where these two perfectionists work towards a common goal of becoming full time bike builders. Their ethos is “chop what we’ve got”, so here is what they had, a tatty but low mileage 2004 Triumph Bonneville America. Not known for its handsome good looks, the America needs a degree of tearing apart just to get get rid of the ugly bits. Although this example had been well serviced internally, the external was neglected and grubby, which helped greatly in negotiating a sensible price.

Once in bits the guys decided a Harley springer front end and a hardtail frame would be a bit different but this was not to be as the Triumph’s obese headstock prevented a happy union of Hinkley and Milwaukee. With interest waning, Cocknose and Stasss plied their skills on a couple of other bikes to fill the coffers before having another go.

With enthusiasm back in full flow they set about converting the rear end, no easy task as the Hinkley Triumphs use the rear of the engine as a swingarm pivot point, with the rear frame section mounted to the ends of the pivot bolt. Once removed things become a bit loose and wobbly. Extension and axle plates were fabricated and the frame altered to achieve a neat hardtail set up. Fenland Choppers were then called in roll out a close fitting mudguard.

To redress the lack of comfort from the stiff rear, a Harley Fat Bob seat pan sits on Fabricator Kevin brackets, “not cheap but pure quality” says Cocknose. I like Kevin’s mantra, “If it ain’t steel, it ain’t real”.

Exhausts are from a Scrambler and much chopped about and shortened, with small baffle inserts grafted into the ends. Running a Procom ECU with the air bypass system omitted the 790cc motor runs crisp and sounds awesome.

With the rear end fabricated, bolted up and sitting pretty attention could be turned to the front and the overall stance. Forks dropped 2″ in the triple clamps saw the lower frame tube run parallel with the ground, a level of detail that makes Cocknose and Stasss very happy indeed. With a dry build complete the whole lot could be dismantled again and sent to the painters for lashings of two-pack black for the frame and BMW Pepper White for the tank and mudguard.

The 16″x3″ rims have been powder coated gloss black and rebuilt with stainless spokes, Avon Speedmasters look spot on, plenty of sidewall and classic tread. True to the Bobber ethos of a super-clean front end the electronic speedo picks up signal from a magnet on the rear wheel and sends it to a Koso digital speedo. Best keep those rolling burnouts to a minimum then to maintain the bike’s low milage status.

The narrow drag bars made for awkward pipework so Cocknose machined-up banjo fittings to suit and a line splitter mounted under the bottom yoke keeps the gubbins out of sight. The small billet mirror is by Oberon.

There was a stack more behind this build that I haven’t covered but rest assured Cocknose and Stasss pack an awful lot of enthusiasm, skill and hard work into that small shed. There’s now an ’82 Harley Shovelhead project wrestling for bench space so the Triumph is up for sale. Taxed, MOT’d and ready to be enjoyed for the last 2 months of summer. Get in touch with the guys on cocknosechoppers66@gmail.com and ask them, Whose cock is that chopper?

via The Bike Shed